Investing in Hamburg, Koutsandreas and Rodis open second restaurant, the Waterstone Grill

“Offering great food at reasonable prices” is the mantra for the owners of one of Hamburg’s newest restaurants, Waterstone Grill, 3679 Commerce Place.

Themis Koutsandreas and Nick Rodis are no strangers to the restaurant business, especially in Hamburg.

Although originally from Greece, Koutsandreas (who was later joined by his cousin Rodis) has made Hamburg his business home, having owned and operated Pegasus Restaurant in Hamburg for the past 19 years.

“For three years this building has been sitting empty and I decided that this would be a great location to expand our family business,” Koutsandreas said. “The younger generation of the family are going to take over serving the community and they are going to be doing it the right way.”

So they decided to buy the building and give the former Bob Evans building a major overhaul.

When one enters into the building, nestled in the left corner is a comfortable full-service bar, complete with a fireplace.

Off to the left is the dining area which also sports a fireplace, along with richly colored carpeting, dark wood tables, chairs and trims, and strategically placed art work throughout the area.

Paintings by Buffalo artist, Tony Mauro, grace the walls of the building and handmade pottery can be found in little nooks and crannies all around the dining area.

“Our goal is to make this contemporary restaurant a place where everyone will feel comfortable to be in and that it is a good experience for them,” said Koutsandreas.

Much of the work inside the building was done by Koutsandreas, Rodis, Robert Bengert, who is Koutsandreas’ step-son and many other family members, Koutsandreas said.

“This is a family business,” he said. “We are all a part of this and it is our future.”

Bengert, Waterstone’s general manager, brings a lot of experience to the business from his years of working in New York City.

“I worked in a lot of different restaurants to get a feel of what worked and what didn’t,” Bengert said. “It is important to understand what your clientèle are looking for and what they are willing to try.”

What Koutsandreas, Rodis and Bengert are offering their customers is a higher quality steak and seafood menu at everyday prices.

“We offer the finest Angus rib steaks,” Koutsandreas said.

According to Koutsandreas, the steaks are aged 28 days in a controlled environment so that they become more flavorful and also more tender.

Seafood, including lobster tails, salmon and shrimp, comes to the restaurant three to four times a week, so that it is always fresh.

“We use local suppliers to make sure that everything is the freshest it can be,” Bengert said.

For those not interested in the specialty steaks or seafood, there are a wide range of other items, including lamb, pork, chicken, veal, pasta and salads.

Then there is the dessert menu, with Belgian chocolate mousse cake, deep dish layered apple pie, cheesecake with glazed strawberries and ice cream sundaes, to name a few.

They also offer a complete lunch menu which includes salads, soups’, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and a special steak flat bread. Though one can order off the dinner menu for lunch too.

For the younger customer, there is the ever popular macaroni and cheese, chicken tenders, hamburgers or cheeseburgers, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, grilled breast of chicken and grilled cheese sandwich. Each children meal comes with a choice of drink and an ice cream sundae to top it off.

The restaurant first opened on Nov. 21, 2011, but started off rather quietly.

“We have not had a grand opening, yet,” Koutsandreas said. “We did it soft, because we wanted to get customer feedback to see if what we had to offer was something that they wanted to come back for.

“What we have found is that people pretty much like the atmosphere here and they love the food.

“That is our goal, to provide the highest quality of food, comfort and value for the dollar, along with great service,” Koutsandreas said.

The restaurant employs 50 full-time and part-time staff, many of them local residents.

“We take pride in having friendly employees, who are concerned in making sure this is a positive experience for our customers,” Koutsandreas said.

They offer Friday fish fries and a Prime Rib specials Saturdays and Sundays.

A new offering is scheduled to begin mid-to-late February is a special Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

They also offer takeout service.

Waterstone is open from Sunday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

According to Bengert, the kitchen closes at that time but the bar area will stay open longer, if there are customers.

“We greet you with a smile and we want our customers to have a good experience here,” Bengert said.

“Our goal is to make this an unforgettable experience so that the customer will want to come back and bring their friends,” Koutsandreas said.

“We have made a commitment to be here and we are here to stay in this community.”

For more information on Waterstone call 646-4400 or visit their website at www.waterstonegrill.net.